Search results

This paper points out new directions for the deepening and broadening of the institution-based view, by drawing on three streams of research with which I have been involved recently: (1) outward foreign direct investment from emerging economies, (2) bankruptcy laws and entrepreneurship development, and (3) institution-based research focusing on Africa. Such deepening has been accomplished by enhancing our institution-based understanding of foreign direct investment with a focus on emerging multinationals, while broadening has been done both substantively by probing into the impact of bankruptcy laws on entrepreneurship development around the world and geographically by calling for enhanced research attention on Africa via an institution-based lens.

Research suggests that context matters for MNEs’ international business strategy. MNEs’ strategies vary when different intertwined contexts interact with each other. While International Business scholars understand well the influence of the institutional environments on firms’ international strategies and operations, some contextual differences are less understood as is the case involving African countries and firms. In this study we investigate how different institutional contexts and legitimacy challenges combine to impact ownership strategic choices of African firms in their cross-border acquisitions (CBAs). Specifically, we study the influence of the host country institutional development and two institutional dimension distances: administrative distance and knowledge distance. Methodologically, we use a sample of 314 CBAs made by acquirers from 24 African countries in 71 host countries worldwide to test a number of theoretically driven hypotheses. This study contributes to our understanding of how foreign investors from less institutionally developed countries that are more likely to face higher legitimacy barriers use ownership strategies to achieve legitimacy abroad.

This study explains the international opportunity development of SMEs from emerging economies during institutional transition. This research enriches our understanding of how these firms adopt different approaches to developing international opportunities when they confront the turbulent institutional environment. We develop a phase-based framework for the evolution of transitional institution for SMEs’ internationalization and the SMEs’ internationalization process in that framework. By providing an empirical case study of a privately owned SME from China, the main finding is that SMEs from emerging economies become more entrepreneurial and proactive in developing the international opportunity during the institutional transition.

Large-scale farm management in China has developed rapidly in recent years. Large-scale farmers face substantial operating risks, requiring extensive price risk management. However, the agricultural insurance and futures markets in China are incomplete. This study aims to analyze the price-risk-management behaviors of large-scale farmers under incomplete market conditions, with a focus on the interconnections between large scale farmers' subjective preferences (risk preferences, time preferences), liquidity constraints and their price risk management.

The authors construct an analysis framework to reveal the impact of large-scale farmers' risk preferences, time preferences and liquidity conditions on their price-risk-management behaviors under incomplete market conditions. Using data from field surveys and subjective preference experiments involving 409 large-scale grain farmers in China, an empirical analysis was conducted using the bivariate probit model.

The results show that risk-averse farmers will use risk transfer (such as contract farming) and risk diversification (such as multi-period sales) to avoid price risk. However, farmers subject to liquidity constraints and strong time preferences will not choose risk diversification, and the interaction between time preferences and liquidity constraints will strengthen this decision. The larger the farm-management scale, the greater the impact.

The authors focus on rapidly developed large-scale farm management in China. Appropriate price risk management is required by large-scale farmers due to their substantial operating risks. Considering the incomplete conditions of agricultural insurance and futures markets, the results of this study will help identify behavioral characteristics of large-scale farmers and optimize their price-risk-management strategies, further stabilizing large-scale farm management.

In order to effectively promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy and empower real enterprises to improve quality and efficiency, this study regards the CEO as a high-end innovation resource and aims to empirically test the impact of scholar-type CEOs on the industrial artificial intelligence (AI) transformation of manufacturing enterprises.

Grounded on the upper echelons theory, this paper preliminarily selects A-share manufacturing listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange that are affiliated to enterprise groups from 2014 to 2020 as samples. Furthermore, the Logit regression is conducted to analyze the influence of scholar-type CEOs about industrial AI transformation.

The results show that scholar-type CEO plays a significant role in promoting industrial AI transformation. The parent-subsidiary corporations executives' ties positively moderates the impact of scholar-type CEOs on industrial AI transformation. Further, internal control quality plays a partial mediating role between scholar-type CEOs and industrial AI transformation. Compared with private enterprises, scholar-type CEOs play a stronger role in promoting industrial AI transformation of state-owned enterprises.

First, this paper expands the research related to the influencing factors of industrial AI transformation based on upper echelons theory and clarifies the influencing mechanism of scholar-type CEOs affecting industrial AI transformation from the perspective of executives' behavior. Second, this study further enriches the research framework on the economic consequences of scholar-type CEOs and provides a useful supplement to the research literature in the field of upper echelons theory. Third, this paper is not limited to a single enterprise but involves the management practice of resource allocation within the enterprise groups, further clarifies the internal logic of the decision-making of industrial AI transformation of listed companies within the framework of enterprise groups, providing theoretical reference for the scientific design of the governance mechanism of parent-subsidiary companies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explosive performance and explosion damage mechanism of T-beam bridge structure.

On the basis of the existing specification, two T-beam bridge models were designed and fabricated. Test specimens of different explosive dosage and different blast height were carried out. The mechanical process, failure mode, blast damage model, damage identification mechanism and blast evolution law and quantitative evaluation were taken into account.

The results revealed that the web plate fracture failure is the key to the unstable failure of the whole T-beam bridge. The explosion failure phenomenon and blast damage evaluation criterion of RC T-beam bridge was divided into five stages: the original cracks stage of concrete material (D = 0 ∼ 0.1), the fractures initiation stage of concrete material (D = 0.1 ∼ 0.3), the stable expansion stage of cracks in concrete material (D = 0.3 ∼ 0.55), the unstable expansion stage of cracks in concrete material (D = 0.55 ∼ 0.8), the explosion fracture of steel bars and the overall instability and damage of the bridge (D = 0.8 ∼ 1.0), which can also be described as basically intact, slight damage, moderate damage, severe damage and collapsed.

The research result will provide basis for the antiknock evaluation and damage repair technical specifications of the RC T-beam bridge.

The research results of damage evaluation serve as a basis for damage repair and reinforcement of bridge structures after explosion.

This study focuses on understanding how channel features can affect people's intention to continue to use an electronic channel in public affairs and their recommendation behaviors. Specifically, three different channels are focused on: email, microblogs and online meetings.

A research model on an e-participation channel based on the channel-disposition framework was developed and an online survey was conducted to collect data from 397 individuals who used three e-participation channels to validate seven hypotheses.

The study found that information quality, channel interaction quality and the social appearance of other citizens all had a significant impact on users' intention to continue to use an electronic channel, which, in turn, affected their recommendation behaviors. However, the impact differed across the three e-participation channels. Information quality had a stronger impact on microblog and online meeting users' intention to continue to use these channels than on email users' intention to continue using email to participate in public affairs. Channel interaction quality had a stronger impact on email users' intention to continue to use email than on microblog and online meeting users' intention to continue to use these channels in public affairs.

This study helps better explain how various channels and their features can affect participants' use intentions and behaviors in e-participation. It also provides practical guidance for government to better manage e-participation channels and effectively engage citizens in public affairs.

Based on social cognitive theory, this study aims to explore the influence of supervisor bottom-line mentality (SBLM) on employee knowledge behavior (knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior). The study first investigates the role of an ethical decision-making mechanism (moral disengagement) in mediating this relationship. In addition, it considers the possible boundary conditions to supplement research on the influence of SBLM in the knowledge management field.

The authors collected 256 data points from employees across three stages using convenience sampling. The authors then tested the proposed hypothesis using hierarchical regression and bootstrap methods.

The results demonstrated that SBLM promotes employees’ moral disengagement, leading to more knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior. Furthermore, high power distance orientation among employees exacerbates the ill effects of SBLM according to the first stage of a moderated mediation model. Employees with such an orientation are more likely to respond to a SBLM by exhibiting a higher level of moral disengagement, thus increasing their knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior.

Research on the influence of SBLM in the knowledge management field is limited. This study not only clarifies the relationships between SBLM and two types of knowledge behavior (knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior) but also enriches the research on the antecedents of these two types of knowledge behavior.

China has climbed from 22nd in the Global Innovation Index Rankings in 2017 to 11th in the 2022 due to the transition of its manufacturing firms from assemblers to system integrators. This paper examines how firms can enhance their innovation capability through inbound and outbound open innovation.

This paper applies both open innovation and a knowledge-based view and proposes a conceptual framework that encompasses innovation capability and the significance of tacit knowledge acquisition. A questionnaire was designed to collect relevant data from 139 Chinese manufacturing firms in six regions to test this framework.

The authors found that inbound open innovation has a stronger impact than outbound open innovation on synergistic innovation capability. The acquisition of skill-based tacit knowledge has a slightly stronger intermediary role between open innovation (no matter inbound or outbound) and synergistic innovation capability than cognitive tacit knowledge does.

Firms should improve external tacit knowledge acquisition efforts to generate new knowledge, inspire the innovation passion of employees and implement ambidextrous open innovation.

This paper makes a good first step to analyze the effect of ambidextrous open innovation on the synergistic innovation capability of Chinese manufacturing firms. It verifies the role of skill-based and cognitive tacit knowledge acquisition and provides new reflections on open innovation strategy in emerging economies, thus enriching open innovation and knowledge-based theories.

This chapter focuses on the international development of Mixel Agitators, an independent SME which develops, produces and markets industrial mixers. Founded in the late 1960s near Lyon, in France, the company has more than 70 employees worldwide. Initially focused on its domestic market, the SME changed strategy and opened to foreign markets after the arrival of a new CEO. Since then, Mixel Agitators has been highly active abroad, notably is China where it holds a production and sales subsidiary. The authors of this chapter chart the international expansion of the company in order to highlight key success factors of industrial SMEs in such a challenging market.